Pennsylvania changes policy to follow Trump order on transgender athletes in high school sports

Pennsylvania’s governing body for high school sports has changed its policy that allowed transgender athletes to compete in prep athletics to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order.

The board of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association voted last week to remove a policy that had deferred to school principals to determine an athlete’s “gender” when “questioned or uncertain,” and instead approved one that officials said was designed to comply with Trump’s order.

The new policy defers to principals to determine a student’s “sex” when “questioned or uncertain,” and adds a line that says that, in accordance with Trump’s executive order, “schools are required to consult with their school solicitors relative to compliance with the order.”

Associations in some other states, including Maine, have signaled they may defy the president’s order, while others were taking a wait-and-see approach.

Trump signed the order on Feb. 5, giving the federal government wide latitude to pull federal funding from entities that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” by allowing transgender athletes to participate. Legal challenges are expected.

In response to Trump’s order, the NCAA revised its transgender participation policy to limit women’s college sports to athletes assigned as female at birth. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a governing body for smaller schools, effectively banned transgender athletes in 2023 from women’s sports.

The number of transgender athletes competing at the high school and college level is believed to be small, but the topic became a campaign issue for Trump last year as he declared his intent to “keep men out of women’s sports.”